NAUJAAT/REPULSE BAY
North Arrow Minerals Inc. (TSX.V:NAR) expects to know by March if they will be continuing with exploration on their Qilalugaq property about 10 km northeast of the hamlet of Naujaat.

More than 1,500 tonnes of bulk sample contained in 1,688 'megabags' were collected near Repulse Bay this summer as part of North Arrow Minerals summer bulk sampling program at their Qilalugaq Diamond Project. Diamond valuations expected this March will likely determine the future of activity at the deposit. - photo courtesy North Arrow Minerals Inc.

By then, a parcel of diamonds (the company is hoping for 500 carats) processed from about 1,500 tonnes of bulk sampling completed this summer on the property will have travelled to Antwerp, Belgium to be evaluated for its market value.

The value diamond appraisers in Antwerp assign that package of diamonds will likely determine the future of the deposit.

The company was in Naujaat earlier this month to update the community on progress at Qilalugaq.

Naujaat, formerly Repulse Bay, was the staging ground this summer for a 1,500 tonne bulk sample sealift completed on Aug. 25.

North Arrow already has a viable mineral resource associated with Qilalugaq. It was completed by Stornoway Diamond Corp. and summarized in a 1012 technical report that showed inferred resources of 26.1 million carats from 48.8 million tonnes total content of kimberlite with an average total diamond content of 53.6 carats per hundred tonnes, or just over a half-carat per tonne.

This summer's $3.7 million bulk sampling program was for diamond valuation, the remaining element to fall in place before generating a preliminary economic assessment.

North Arrow president and CEO Ken Armstrong led the community delegation, along with Nick Thomas, manager of investor and community relations and community relations officer Denise Lockett.

"We focused on managing the expectations of the community and really tried to make sure they understand that if we don't get a high enough diamond value (from this parcel) then we won't have a program next year," stated Thomas in an e-mail to Nunavut News North.

But if diamond valuations are high the company would move toward a preliminary economic assessment of the deposit and its potential for a mine.

"The months following the diamond valuation results, if positive, we will be working to put out a preliminary economic assessment that will outline a rough idea of what a mine at Q1-4 (kimberlite pipe) would look like and would introduce a sense of the economics," Thomas said. "This will be occurring while we work on getting the permits for 2015 in anticipation for a summer drill program."

The 2015 summer drill program would mean up to a further 10,000 metres of drilling on the kimberlite. A road from Qilalugaq to Repulse Bay would have to be planned, permitted and built by the summer of 2016 to be ready for a 10,000 tonne bulk sample program that year.

The company made three presentations in Naujaat; one to Mayor and council, another to a hunters and trappers organization and a third to the community.

Slides highlighted site reclamation, community involvement in the project and protocols in place to minimize disruption to wildlife habitat.

"In total, close to two-thirds of our total work force were local -- 15 different individuals -- and they did an excellent job," Thomas said.

"There were evenings where there were slinging from the sample location back to town that the work was handled completely by locals."

A wildlife protocol was adopted during the program. The procedures, drafted in collaboration with the hamlet staff and approved by the Arviq Hunters and Trappers Association, focused on minimizing any impact on wildlife, especially caribou.

A daily log was kept of any observed wildlife and shared with the hamlet and Association on a weekly basis. At times, temporary measures were taken due to wildlife sightings, including: excavator shut down once due to caribou, and a helicopter diverted from its flight path six times to avoid disturbing caribou. In total, 22 actions were taken to avoid wildlife disturbance during the project.

Discovered in early 2000 by BHP Billiton, the property was later acquired by Stornoway which developed the Q1-4 kimberlite between 2006 and 2012. North Arrow partnered with Stornoway in 2013 through an option agreement that would see North Arrow earn 80 per cent interest in the property upon completing approximately $5 million in exploration expenditures.

Qilalugaq is not the company's only diamond project, not even its only one in Nunavut, but it is the company's most advanced stage project. Other diamond exploration is underway in the NWT near the territory's existing diamond mines, and in Ontario and Saskatchewan.